One of the more intriguing games of Week Two will feature the defending Super Bowl champions visiting Charlotte. Sure, the Panthers were 2-14 last year and 0-1 so far in 2011. But Cam Newton, the first overall pick in the draft, made the jump to the NFL in a big way, racking up 422 yards passing in his first game.

So while the Packers most likely will win, it’ll be interesting to see what Newton can do against a quality team, right?

The Panthers don’t see it that way. Linebacker Thomas Davis thinks that the Panthers can win the game.

“Man, I’m tired of talking about [Packers quarterback] Aaron Rodgers,” Davis told reporters Wednesday, via Steve Reed of CarolinaGrowl.com. “We’ll line up and we’re going to compete as hard as we can and we should come away with a victory.”

If Davis seems irritated about the Packers, consider his feelings regarding the local happiness with the fact that the Panthers lost to the Cardinals by only seven points.

“You look back and the fans were excited about us being in the game against Arizona,” Davis said. “Arizona is a team that went 5-11 last year. So I don’t know why that is something to be excited about. We went out and fully expected to win that game, just like we are going out and fully expect to win this game.

“You can’t really go into a game thinking you don’t have a chance or we’re close. This is the NFL and any given Sunday you can win a football game.”

We like the confidence. It may be misplaced, but we like it. There’s no way any team can be successful if the team doesn’t believe in itself. And so that’s another reason for Panthers fans to feel good about their team, even if it falls to 0-2 on Sunday.

It shouldn’t matter that most of the sports world disagrees with the likely outcome – that’s not his job. His job is to win, and the first steps there are thinking you can win and holding yourself accountable for losses.

“If you build it they will come” quote from the movie Fields of Dreams…….. If you build confidence, the wins will come……….. Go Panthers, since the schedule was released I’ve been preaching upset, is it possible? anything is possible, is it likely? No. But I’m going to cheer for my Panthers, win lose or draw!!!!

I love me some TD! Yea Beason went down, but Dan Connor will man the middle just fine.

If Carolina’s secondary can keep Rodgers checking down, I think they have a chance. They have some good, fast linebackers to mark Finley and Chris Gamble is coming off a good performance against Fitzgerald to go against Jennings.

I see a big dose of Williams and Stewart and trying to move the sticks and keeping that Packer offense off the field as long as possible.

“You look back and the fans were excited about us being in the game against Arizona. Arizona is a team that went 5-11 last year. So I don’t know why that is something to be excited about. We went out and fully expected to win that game, just like we are going out and fully expect to win this game.”

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The Cards also didn’t have a QB last year. They do now. Apples and oranges bud. I hope Rodgers and the Pack hang 100 points on them.

Great attitude. SHOCK THE WORLD! Green Bay was 10-6 in the regular season last year – somebody beat them. Why not the Panthers? Like Davis said: ANY GIVEN SUNDAY! They can be beat. If you don’t think you can do it – stay home or resign.

they were actually two bad blitz calls away from winning that game. not saying they will beat the Pack, but their own coaches cost them the game.

Sour Plays of the Week: Leading 14-7 in the third quarter of Cam Newton’s coming-out party, Carolina had Arizona facing fourth-and-10 at midfield. The Cats blitzed seven, a tactic rarely seen because it is like handing out a card that says “please score a touchdown.” No one at all covered Cardinals tight end Jeff King, who scored a 48-yard touchdown. Later, Carolina leading 21-14, the Panthers blitzed six against an Arizona five-wide package. No one at all covered Early Doucet, whose 70-yard catch-and-run touchdown set the stage for the Cardinals’ win.

I like the attitude. If you dont believe you can win on any given sunday, you dont belong on the field. This isn’t the same team as last year. They’re not just going to show up and go through the motions like last years “it is what it is” team. Rivera actually gives a crap and has them thinking like winners.

What is he supposed to say? “We’re going to go out there, probably give up 30+ points, but we’re going to play our hearts out!”…. I mean I get he shouldn’t say anything but having a little confidence never killed anybody….

I love the attitude of a player like this. Yes the Carolina Panthers may not be on the same level as the packers as they have a rookie quarterback and are rebuilding.
The packers are defending superbowl champions and should have an edge. I am not a fan of either club but do tell it like it is.
On paper it looks like a lopsided win for packers. But that as Chris Berman says is why they play the game. Any team can win on a given sunday.
If the carolina panthers are gonna win, they are gonna have to run the ball and play ball control and keep the packers offense off the field.
That said, the packers defense does give alot of qb pressure and an occassional pick 6, but history of the last 2 years has proven they give up alot of yards and points. It is an opportunistic defense not a stonewall defense. With an agile qb back there who knows, maybe it will be a good game.

WingT says: Sep 14, 2011 9:38 PM
Cam needs to play loose and take what the D gives him. He needs to tuck it and run more this week.
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“Tuck it and run more, wingT?
Have you ever heard of Clay Mathews III?
Do you want Newton to play another game this year?
But you were right about one thing, Cam IS about to get “baptized” !
Welcome to the NFL Cam Newton
And as for that Thomas Davis guy, “Don’t piss in a cup anywhere near Rodger Goodell, Tom”!

Some of you feel compelled to speak out against a man who has overcome two ACL surgeries and is playing impressively. You mock him, when your sorry butts probably get injured Tweeting cynical comments about people who have done more by their 20th birthday that you and all of your buddies will ever accomplish in a lifetime. Doubt him–I get it. Mock him? You are a turd.

Panthers always play the Pack tough. The jury is out on the Packers secondary. Brees ripped it up. #12 and the Packers O were able to score more. The Cards secondary is really bad. We’l find out Sunday if the Packers D is as good as their playoff run and if Cam is for real.

If Carolina’s secondary can keep Rodgers checking down, I think they have a chance.
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You do realize his check down receivers are STUDS.

If there’s one place that GB truly has superior depth over most every other team – it’s WR, pass receivers.

Driver is 1 yard short of 10000 yards, he can play. Jennings is a beast, Jones can be a beast when given the chance. Jordy catches the ball as well as most, Cobb scored 2 TD’s in his first game in the NFL – the Packer’s #5 receiver is a rook that set the record for all purpose yards in the SEC. He’s no scrub.

Ill take the Saints D over the Panthers D any day. And I think we could see a repeat of last week offensively for the Packers.

That said, Newton will have to be ready to scramble because I think he is going to be under constant pressure from a better front 7 this week. If he picks up first downs by slipping away from the rush, maybe they can keep the Packers O off the field.

For a long time the panthers have won with a solid D and running game. Cam answered the first big question about himself last week, he is not the second coming of JaMarcus Russel. TD may be getting ahead of himself a bit but that’s what happens when a franchise that has never had a great QB looks like it has landed one. Win or loose the panthers will have to feel like they can compete at last.

Exactly have confidence. But why the tendency to be a big mouth about it? Yea the Packers need a little bulletin board material .
To paraphrase a line from the Blues Brothers
Davis HA Your’e gonna look pretty funny tryin’ to win a game with no friggen teeth!

If every team had players who made this prediction every week, it would become ludicrous. It isn’t newsworthy, and should be ignored by the media. It reminds me how the Dolphins CB claimed they had the best tandem in the NFL – how did that work out.

Technically you’re right, four is less than five in the secondary. But teams blitz more than they have to cover man all the time. Especially great defenses, you try to confuse the qb and get home before he finds the open guy. You also play zone and force a dump off to stop them short of the first down. That’s why third and fourth are obvious pass rushing downs. Unfortunately it sounds like your blitz didn’t get home or your zone had a big hole. The wr either ran past the zone alone for six or the zone guy chased someone the wrong way. Either way it’s not a bad call and definitely not why you lost.

For fun, watch the defenses of the jets, steelers, packers, cowboys, and ravens. Look for the same situations. You’ll see this happens all the time. Especially against new qbs who they think won’t find the open guy in time. Against the Peyton manning and Tom bradys of the world, it’s far less common cause it’s known they’ll easily get the ball out and/or read the blitz pre snap and audible to a play to beat it.

We beat the Packers and Aaron Rogers the last time we faced them. 2008 in Green Bay. 35-31

That being said, we are too young on defense with a questionable secondary and two rookie DTs. On Offense, it looks like our starting RT, Jeff Otah, will be out with a concussion. In his place will be undrafted rookie Byron Bell or 7th round pick Lee Ziemba. Either way, Matthews should have a field day.

But this team will not roll over and die like last year. Those outside of Charlotte don’t recognize this yet, but they will soon enough.

Last year’s SB Champs lost to CLE, KC, CHI, WASH, MIA and ATL. So there’s no way the Panthers have a chance – right?

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Did you just pull those teams out of your ass? Green Bay didnt even play Cleveland or Kansas City…. they lost to Chicago, Miami, Washington, Atlanta, Detroit, and New England

the loss to Chicago was reasonable, they outplayed us on their turf, no shame in that… as for the Miami and Washington losses, this was the point in the season we were trying to overcome all of our injuries and we just couldnt get wins at this time… again, losing a close one in Atlanta brings no shame, although we had multiple oportunities to win that game… as for Detroit, we lost Rodgers in the first quarter and we fell apart… Almost beat New England without Rodgers

“We beat the Packers and Aaron Rogers the last time we faced them. 2008 in Green Bay. 35-31”

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No offense to you, but I can’t stand it when the experts quote previous battles between teams. The rosters in the pros, and more so in college, change so much, that making reference to ‘all time records’, or ‘when they played in xxxx’, is irrelevant.

The Panthers are looking good for the future, but the Packers are the future, at least for the next few years.

Newton looked solid as could be week 1, there’s no disputing that. When I thought he was gonna get scared and run, he hung tough and stayed in the pocket to deliver a strike down field. Lord knows the kid can run if need be…GB is a damn good team, but anything can happen when you’ve got 2 very capable backs in Stewart and Williams and a Rookie QB that GB only has ONE NFL games worth of film on. Anyone remember what Kaleb Hanie did to GB in the final Quarter of the NFC Championship Game?..when a team hasn’t had the chance to study film on a guy, he is unpredictable and therefor more of a threat with a greater chance to make the impossible possible. I just hope it’s one hell of a game!

Don’t get me wrong, the Panthers offense is on the up and up and Newton proved a lot to me last weekend (albeit against a porous secondary). But the Packers offense is going to make Swiss cheese of that defense. I see Starks easily racking up 100 yards and Ryan Grant may even approach the century mark also depending how big of a lead Green Bay gets.

I also believe that Jordy Nelson will be a sneaky fantasy play this week. Carolina seemed to focus in on Fitz last week to the point of over-committing and I could see them doing it again. Early Doucet was the beneficiary last week and I think the more talented Nelson could do even more damage. I’m calling 7 catches for around 120 yards and at least 1 TD.

As for Newton, I’m not looking at this game as much as the next week against JAX at home. I expect the rookie to struggle against arguably the best D in the league. Capers is going to throw so many different looks at Cam, especially with a week of game film against him. So IMO, it will be more interesting to see how Newton bounces back after possibly getting his morale (and body) roughed up.

Yeah, I’m sure many of u go into a game believing u will lose every game unless it’s against someone who u preceive is weaker than ur team….IMO, why bother show up if u don’t feel u have a chance. Everything in life is 50/50.

On paper the Greenbay Packer may be stronger than the Panthers but all it takes is some lucky breaks and there goes the game.

WingT says: Sep 14, 2011 9:38 PM
Cam needs to play loose and take what the D gives him. He needs to tuck it and run more this week.
——————————————————–
“Tuck it and run more, wingT?
Have you ever heard of Clay Mathews III?
Do you want Newton to play another game this year?
But you were right about one thing, Cam IS about to get “baptized” !
Welcome to the NFL Cam Newton
And as for that Thomas Davis guy, “Don’t piss in a cup anywhere near Rodger Goodell, Tom”!
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What’s with the “welcome to the NFL” BS…Like Cam don’t know where the F he is at?

Some of u folks seem doomed to live ur lives never having an original thought but is simply led by every whim of those who practice the “Barnum Affect.”

qdog112: Last year’s SB Champs lost to CLE, KC, CHI, WASH, MIA and ATL. So there’s no way the Panthers have a chance – right?
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You sir, need to be corrected. The Packers never played Cleveland or Kansas City last year during the season. The Packers lost to those 2 teams in the PRESEASON! You really aren’t dumb enough to count preseason games are you?

The Packers did lose to the other 4 teams mentioned, in addition to a stinker in Detroit. The following week they also lost a road game by 4 points, without Aaron Rodgers, to a marginal club called the New England Patriots.

just remember folks Aaron Rodgers is one concussion away from becoming the next Sidney Crosby of present day”

The scary thing is that it seems that Aaron Rodgers gets better with each concussion… Ever since he sat out of the New England game he has been dominant (minus a few Chicago games) …… there’s no telling how good he’ll be with a few more.

Every year in the NFL there are a few major upsets. Teams who never had a shot going in end up beating a far superior team. Most Super Bowl winners don’t even get back to the playoffs. Carolina has more than a chance to pull the upset.